This book originally appeared as a text prepared for the Defense Nuclear Agency to summarize research on dynamic pulse buckling, by the authors and their colleagues at SRI International, during the period from 1960 to 1980. The original printing of 300 copies by the DNA Press was followed shortly by a small second printing to meet the demand by readers who heard of the book from the primary recipients. This supply was also quickly exhausted, to researchers and practicing engineers outside the DNA community and to academics who wanted to include the material in courses on elastic and plastic stability of structures. Commercial publication by Martinus Nijhoff Publishers was therefore undertaken to meet the needs of this broader community. The objective of the book was to gather into a cohesive whole material that had been published in reports and the open literature during the two decade period. In the process of knitting this material together, a substantial amount of new work was done. The book therefore contains many new results never published in the open literature.

This monograph will be valuable for English-speaking scientists wanting to know more about the state-of-the-art in Russian research on non-linear shell theory. It will also be of value to all materials scientists concerned with the use and behaviour of composite materials in structural applications.

Structural Impact is concerned with the behaviour of structures and components subjected to large dynamic, impact and explosive loads which produce inelastic deformations. It is of interest for safety calculations, hazard assessments and energy absorbing systems throughout industry. The first five chapters introduce the rigid plastic methods of analysis for the static behaviour and the dynamic response of beams, plates and shells. The influence of transverse shear, rotatory inertia, finite displacements and dynamic material properties are introduced and studied in some detail. Dynamic progressive buckling, which develops in several energy absorbing systems, and the phenomenon of dynamic plastic buckling are introduced. Scaling laws are discussed which are important for relating the response of small-scale experimental tests to the dynamic behaviour of full-scale prototypes. This text is invaluable to undergraduates, graduates and professionals learning about the behaviour of structures subjected to large impact, dynamic and blast loadings producing an inelastic response.

* Edited by Josef Singer, the world's foremost authority on structural buckling. * Time-saving and cost-effective design data for all structural, mechanical, and aerospace engineering researchers.

During the last ten years a considerable volume of inform ation has been accumulated regarding the inelastic behaviour of materials. The increasing number of communications published in specialised journals and also the frequency of meetings in these fields, indicates a considerable research effort aimed at such topics as plasticity, creep, fatigue, visco-plasticity and the like. This fact encouraged a group of Brazilian researchers, stimulated enthusiastically by Professor P. Germain, to submit a proposal for a Symposium on the "Inelastic Behaviour of Plates and Shells" to the General Assembly of IUTAM. Brazil had recently joined IUTAM and the Brazilian Association of Mechanical Sciences was eager to host an IUTAM meeting. In the selection of the subject, it was taken into account, besides a promising number of original contributions, the interest to be raised amongst the Brazilian researchers and engineers, in order to maximise the participation of the host country. The recent steps taken in this country towards the develop ment of the aero-space industry, the construction of nuclear power plants a.nd the off-shore exploration of petroleum have required an intensification of research activities in several fields, structural behaviour of plates and shells being one of the most important. Therefore, the suggested theme would attract the interest or a significant group of Brazilian researchers and engineers and match the necessity for exchanging experience among leading scientists working in those fields.

Mechanical engineering, an engineering discipline forged and shaped by the needs of the industrial revolution, is once again asked to do its substantial share in the call for industrial renewal. The general call is urgent as we face profound issues of productivity and competitiveness that require engineering solutions, among others . The Mechanical Engineering Series features graduate texts and research monographs intended to address the need for information in contemporary areas of mechanical engineering. The series is conceived as a comprehensive one that covers a broad range of c- centrations important to mechanical engineering graduate education and research . We are fortunate to have a distinguished roster of consulting editors on the ad- sory board, each an expert in one of the areas of concentration . The names of the consulting editors are listed on the facing page of this volume . The areas of conc- tration are applied mechanics, biomechanics, computational mechanics, dynamic systems and control, energetics , mechanics of materials, processing, production systems, thermal science, and tribology .